


A Boy and his Blades

by Thoughtyouknewr



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A series of oneshots, Antok is disgusted, But rats?, Child Abandonment, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Dancer Keith (Voltron), Galra are enormous, Gen, Get those things away from him, Glara!Keith, He has claws in one of these, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, It's just bruising, Keith can face down anything, Keith will be the death of Kolivan, Keith's past is a bigger feature than I intended, Kieth is smol, Kinda, Now including DDR!, Of Keith a long time ago, Oh hell no., Size Difference, Tags will update as needed, Thace is now pissed as well, Third one approaches crack, Until is goes right, accidental injury, and people notice, diplomacy gone wrong, keith is so pretty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-07 04:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14663210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thoughtyouknewr/pseuds/Thoughtyouknewr
Summary: The Blades of Marmora grow increasingly attached to the half-Earthling they find in their company. A collection of oneshots about Keith and the Dads of Marmora.Now: The Blades accidentally interrupt a religious dance while saving a planet, and must pay reparations by completing the ceremonial dance. Keith, disregarding Kolivan completely (why does he even bother at this point), volunteers himself for the task. His performance shocks everyone and leads Kolivan to question the nature of games on Earth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the prompt "You're hurting me" which I saw somewhere on tumblr. I feel like that was supposed to trigger much more purposeful kind of hurt, but whatever.

One of the downsides to being only half-Galran, was that Keith was _a lot_ smaller than everyone else on the Marmora base. Usually, this wouldn't be that much of an issue. Kieth was shorter than many humans, and he was used to it. All of the other male paladins were taller than him, and even Allura had at least an inch on Keith. 

The problem was that the Galra put everything on a whole new scale. Because other humans only had a few inches on him, a foot tops in his experience. The Galrans had _several feet_ on _average_. And they were proportional, so their appendages (including tails) and muscles were far larger than even the most built humans could hope for. 

This usually added up to slight annoyance for Keith. Everything on the Marmora base was, of course, constructed for the larger race, so it was way too big for Keith. He could barely see over the counter in the cafeteria. His feet dangled far above the ground in any seat he took. A few people made the mistake of believing that his height meant he was easy to push around. He corrected that misconception very quickly. 

Occasionally, a warm, fuzzy feeling mixed in with the irritation. The vast majority of Galrans on the base seemed incapable of seeing him as anything other than a kit. The issue stemmed from his own Galran genetics. While everyone understood that different species varied widely in size, most hybrids heavily resembled Galrans. Keith was by far an outlier with his very human looks. Since it was obvious he _was_ Galran (as proved by the fact that he could wield the blade) most Marmorites assumed upon meeting him that he wasn’t yet full grown. 

And this led to annoying, if kind and even some what cute, attempts to help him out in “subtle” ways. Galrans would put things Kieth wanted on lower shelves rather than watch him climb to get them. They would poke at him to eat more and refill his plate when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. A few hovered anxiously around the edges of the gym if they found him training late at night, clearly desiring to urge him to bed. All in all, it was nice to have people care what Keith was doing, but also aggravating that they treated him so young. No way was he telling them that they were at least partially correct in that assumption; he’d learned within the first week that Galrans were considered children until they were over fifty Earth years old. Keith was practically still an _infant_ in their terms, but he would never risk anyone finding out. 

Sometimes his height was even useful. He could fit into places no one else had any hope of entering one missions. People consistently underestimated him to his advantage. And it was easy for another Marmoran to simply scoop him up and run for it if Keith was injured on a mission. 

Very rarely, the size difference between Keith and the rest of the Blades gave rise to a much more uncomfortable and disconcerting situation, though. They weren’t only _bigger_ , after all. They were also stronger, and sometimes they immensely misjudged the effects of that strength on Keith’s fragile human body. 

“You’re hurting me,” Keith blurted hurriedly. Usually, he wouldn’t say anything, would wait until he was alone and nurse the deeps bruises alone. Galrans were tactile race, but contact was generally fleeting. Keith could generally tough out any too hard handshakes or overly rough congratulatory back pats because they didn't last. The Blades were closed off to outsiders and Keith was only just starting to be included in any physical contact at all. He hated to discourage it, especially when it felt so _good_ to be touched in a positive way after a life time of abuse, but this time the proud grip on his shoulder had lingered long enough that it was causing him serious pain. 

Antok jumped back immediately, horrified. “I’m sorry,” he apologized as he watched Keith roll his shoulder gently. “I-I forget how delicate humans can be.” He visibly restrained himself from trying to assess the damage he’d inadvertently done. “Should you go see Ulaz?”

“No, no,” Keith protested quickly. “I’ll be fine. Just a bruise. It’s ok, really. It happens more often than you think,” he added with a grin meant to reassure the huge Galran. 

Antok responded by looking even more horrified. “It _what_?” he hissed.

“It’s ok,” Keith repeated. “You guys are all a lot stronger than me, and not used to being around someone so much smaller. It’s bound to happen every now and then. And I’m used to bruises. Honestly, it’s just the shape that bothers me…” He trailed off with a grimace. 

He…wasn’t fond of hand shaped marks all over his body. It brought up too many bad memories that he’d really rather forget. The fact that they were so big in comparison to him didn’t help. The bruises smacked just a bit too much of adult abuse to his body as a child. It was a very different thing to be hurt by people his age than by adults who were supposedly responsible for his care. Keith unfortunately had seen too many of both marks on himself, but he always reacted worse to the ones that were obviously huge against his tiny body. 

Antok cocked his head in confusion. “The shape?” he questioned. 

Keith pulled down the collar of his loose t-shirt to expose the forming handprint that stretched from his collar bone back across his scapula. “Big hands,” he explained. “Not a shape you can get from anything but another sentient being. Brings up too many memories.”

Antok _hissed_. “You are of average height for a human. To have such large hands on you, the person was either exceptionally big, or _you_ were very small at the time.”

Keith blinked. Rarely did people make that connection when he let similar things slip. They were usually so eager to change the topic that they didn’t bother thinking about what his little anecdotes meant. 

“My mom left shortly after my birth. As far as I can remember, she was always gone. My dad decided he’d had enough when I was five. I was shunted into foster care, which is a system where people are paid to look after a child for a short period of time. It’s very easy to take advantage of that sort of system.”

A sort of whimpering growl left the Galra. 

“It wasn’t all bad,” Keith assured him hurriedly. “There are some extremely kind and caring people who foster kids because they really want to help. I just wasn’t always that lucky.”

“Kits are a blessing!” Antok exclaimed. “Humans find it appropriate to treat their young this way?”

“No,” Keith said. “Most humans cherish their young as well. But there are outliers, just as I’m sure there are in most every other race. Whenever it’s discovered that someone is mistreating a child, there are legal consequences and they aren’t allowed to interact with kids anymore. It’s just that it has to be discovered.” 

“And it’s difficult, as a child to prove that a foster parent it abusing you. Foster children are often painted as difficult because they usually come from very hard lives. It’s very easy to excuse most bruises as the child picking fights without a parent knowing. ‘Accidents’ also get a lot of the blame. Besides that, children can be moved so quickly that it's sometimes to prove where they were living when they got hurt. The system needs a lot of work, but it’s the best Earth can currently do.”

The big Galra didn’t look soothed. “You are a Galran kit,” he said, “and this never should’ve befallen you. Your mother should’ve taken you with her. We would’ve looked after you here, in the Blade. A few others have kits.”

Keith shrugged. “Then I never would’ve been a paladin of Voltron,” he said. “I wouldn’t sacrifice that. My life may not have been ideal, but it’s made me who I am today.”

Antok stared at him for a second. “Wise words,” he said. “You are stronger than many give you credit for. So much resilience in such a tiny body.” He seemed to shake himself. “I will bring you something for the bruise later. It is the least I can do.”

Then he strode away before Keith could answer. Keith stared after him for a second, bemused. Galra could be so abrupt sometimes. But he wouldn’t gain anything from standing there, so he pushed the encounter to the back of his mind and continued on with his day.

***

Antok was as good as his word, and came to Keith later with a salve that made the bruise disappear twice as fast as usual. 

And if an announcement went around the base a few weeks later reminding personnel to be careful with their resident half-human, Keith pretended not to notice it. 


	2. Rat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith can face down Zarkon himself, but rats? Absolutely not. Keep those suckers far away from him. The Blades are amused with their kit, until they hear the reason behind his fear.

The noise Keith made scared the shit out of the entire group of Blades he was with. Their fear only grew as the littlest proceeded to _climb_ Petron, who was closest to him. Keith perched with none of his natural grace, clinging desperately to the other man’s shoulder and peering anxiously at the ground. 

Everyone else glanced around in concern. Keith was rarely even mildly perturbed. If he was frightened, he must have seen something truly horrific. But what?

“Is it gone?” Keith squeaked, leaning precariously away from Petron to see the floor where he’d been standing. 

Petron shuffled back a few feet, puzzled but wary enough to move away from whatever Keith was looking for. 

“What?” Thace asked as he searched the cave. 

Something caught the very edge of his sight as a small rodent like creature scuttled a few feet towards Petron. 

Keith _shrieked_ and jumped from Petron to the cave wall. Claws Thace hadn’t even known the little half-galra possessed extended to cling on to the rock. The rodent followed the noise curiously, and Keith nearly wailed. 

Surely that couldn’t be what was upsetting the kit? Keith had seen headless corpses and smiled in the face of terrifying, many fanged beasts. Surely this rodent, smaller even than Keith himself, would barely even register. 

He was proven wrong when Keith tried to scramble farther up the wall. Miraculously, the kit managed to make it all the way to the ceiling, and turned himself upside-down to hang quite dangerously by only his claws. 

“Rat!” he cried, clearly terrified. 

Petron kindly picked up the rodent and removed it from the cave. Thace was thankful that stealth wasn’t necessary for this part of the mission. 

“Perhaps that’s not the safest position, kit,” Thace chuckled lightly. He reached up only a few inches above his own head (the cave was chosen because it was too small for the biggest Galra) and pulled the little one off the ceiling. 

Keith clung to him as high as Thace would allow him, and glared around worriedly. “Is it gone?” he repeated, squeezing closer to Thace as a safe ground. 

“Yes, little one,” Kitan assured him. "Petron took it out. Though I can’t imagine why such a tiny animal could frighten you.”

“It wasn’t an animal!” Keith insisted. “It was a _rat_! Those things are demons! They crawl all over you with the disgusting little feet, and bite you, and they carry disease!” It felt like he was trying to fuse himself to Thace at the mere thought. 

“It was a small rodent,” Krisha stated, confused. 

Keith seemed to calm slightly in the face of this flat announcement. “Yeah, no, I’m sorry,” he stuttered as he reviewed his behavior of the last few minutes. “I’ve had…bad experiences with rats.”

“Oh?” Petron asked, concern in his voice and posture. 

“I had a foster brother once,” Keith confided after a second’s pause. “He was the biological child of the parents, and he didn’t like sharing them. He had this rat, a huge, mean thing that he could barely convince his mom to let him keep. He used to let it out in my room on purpose at night. I would see the moon glinting red off it’s eyes, then randomly feel it crawling all over me or nibbling on my clothes or hair or even my skin a few times. He used to go on and on about how rats could pass diseases with a mere touch and the feel of something dangerous crawling all over me in the dark was just-“ He shuddered violently, huddling back into Thace again. “I was so young, and it kind of stuck with me. I just never really got over it. I’m sorry for the dramatics.”

Horror and anger bloomed in Thace’s chest. Keith was still so young, and to imagine and even younger and _tinier_ version of the kit shivering alone and terrified in the dark was disturbing on so many levels. 

Keith was still quite shaken up, as proven by the periodic tremors that wracked through his body. It was the most Thace had ever heard him talk in one sitting, and he hated that it was because Keith was too worked up to sensor himself. Thace purred soothingly, suppressing his anger. He could see his own disgust reflected in the others' faces. The incident had gone from a cute anecdote to tell the others to a true trauma in the space of a tick. That seemed to happen worryingly often where Keith was involved. 

“Kitan is afraid of the things you call spiders,” Krisha announced randomly. 

“Well Krisha hates small worms with many legs,” Kitan fired back instantly.

“The _point_ ,” Petron interrupted, “is that we’re all afraid of something, kitten. And yours is perhaps even more justifiable than the others’.”

“Oh now, I wouldn’t go that far,” Kitan protested. “Spiders often carry venom and can kill. They are far more intimidating than Krisha’s little worms.”

“Those things aren’t _natural_!” Krisha hissed. “Nothing should have that many legs!”

Their bickering was by no means unprecedented, and Thace often found it tiring. Today it was a soothing background noise as the kit slowly began to relax once more. 

Tomorrow, they would complete the mission they were sent there for in the first place. They would be serious and focused, and any mistake or unnecessary noise could cost lives. 

Today, they sat in a cave far away from their intended target, safe and not constrained by proximity to the enemy. They spent the time exchanging playful barbs and sneaking quick glances at the kit every few second to make sure he was recovering from the scare. Petron unobtrusively kept an eye on their surroundings for any more “rats.”

And if Thace happened not to put the kit down for the whole night, well that was no one’s business but his own. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this and have a great day!


	3. What Passes for Games on Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blades accidentally interrupt a religious dance while saving a planet, and must pay reparations by completing the ceremonial dance. Keith, disregarding Kolivan completely (why does he even bother at this point), volunteers himself for the task. His performance shocks everyone and leads Kolivan to question the nature of games on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thanks for all the lovely reviews and kudos! I'm working on the prompts some of you turned in, but I was watching youtube the other day, and this is the result. Just a fun little thing. Hope it makes some of you laugh!
> 
> P.S vid that inspired this is at the end if you want an idea of how fast Keith is moving. Just Imagine it a little more graceful because we all know Keith does nothing without grace.

Sometimes, Kolivan seriously wondered _why_ he risked his life to save a universe that was very often less than appreciative. It wasn’t that he wanted a whole lot of glory, or anything. He was perfectly happy with getting in, doing his job, and getting out. 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t always possible, and that lead to situations like this. 

“I’m sorry, but we can’t just let you _leave_ after you interrupted our ceremony!” the village’s leader, Uzak insisted. “You must make reparations!”

“The _attack_ interrupted your ceremony,” Antok snapped from beside Kolivan. “We just stopped the attack from _permanently_ ending your ceremonies.”

Kolivan held out a calming hand. Antok was usually much harder to rattle than this. They usually did not have their kit with them on diplomatic missions, though.

“Which caused an even _bigger_ interruption!” Uzak argued. 

“What does reparations entail?” Kolivan asked tightly. Having the kit there was putting him off as well. He had to get them all back to the ship safe. He would never risk Keith in an unnecessary battle. 

“You burst in during the ceremonial dance,” Uzak explain, “so you must choose one of your own to complete the dance.”

That didn’t sound too bad.

“Our people train for years to learn the dance, and a single misstep can doom the whole ritual. Whoever you send out should be aware of the consequences if he or she doesn’t complete it correctly.”

“Which are?” Kolivan questioned, mentally running through a list of the Blades that had even a little bit of talent dancing. 

“Death, of course,” Uzak said, as though that should’ve been obvious. 

Kolivan blew out a frustrated breath through his nose and resisted the urge to massage his ears as he had seen Keith do to his temples when he needed to calm down and stave off a headache. “Can we at least get a demonstration of the dance before we choose our champion?” he requested, mostly to buy himself some time. None of the Blades could dance. Not a single one. 

Uzak traded looks with those around him, and then conceded. “I suppose that would be acceptable.”

Kolivan knew the moment he saw the contraption they were using that they were destined for failure. The pads that were supposed to be stepped on were just too small for their feet, and too close together. They would trample all over all of them at once, and Kolivan had a feeling that would be frowned upon. 

The designated demonstrator struck a dramatic pose, and then began a dance so intricate and complicated that Kolivan could barely even follow it. A screen displayed which pad should be stepped on next, but it was so fast that Kolivan knew his brain to feet connection would have him tripping more often than landing on the right pad. 

He was just readying himself to have to fight his way out, when Keith _laughed_. “I’ll do it,” he said, with barely concealed _delight_ , like he wasn’t volunteering himself for a task that could get him killed if he was an inch off target. The kit was going to be the death of him. 

“ _No_!” he barked at the same time as Uzak cried, “Excellent!”

Uzak was closer, and dug his claws into Keith before Kolivan could yank him back. Antok growled deeply at Kolivan’s side, and Kolivan was a fraction of a tick from following when Keith looked back at them. 

“I’ll be fine, really,” he assured them. “It’s no trouble.”

He looked remarkably relaxed, which made Kolivan pause. If Keith was so sure he could do this, they could at least give him a try. At best, it would get them out without a fight. At worst, Kolivan would have Antok on standby to grab the kit and run for it. 

Kolivan gave a reluctant nod and made a hand motion tell Antok to stand down. All the Blades bristled a little, concerned for their youngest member. Kolivan had no doubt a fight would be short, but brutal if it came to it. Now that the kit had been involved, everything was so much more serious. 

A half-varga later, they were all gathered back at the dance site. 

Old fashioned drums started up with a slow, solemn beat as Keith approached the machine where he would dance. 

They had dressed him up, Kolivan noted with displeasure. He’d been decked out in a very thin white blouse with gold embroidery and tight gold pants. He was wearing little fairy boots that Kolivan would’ve found adorable in any other circumstance, especially with the detail that went into shaping them as golden leaves. 

Their kits face was covered in makeup. His eyes were lined in black while his lips and cheeks were highlighted with red and pink pigments respectively. His eyelids were dusted in gold. 

A golden circlet sat on his brow, and gold cuffs adorned his wrist. 

Kolivan wondered inanely where they had got clothes to fit him at such short notice and more seriously if Keith had had any time at all to practice between being dolled-up. 

“What, are we worshiping a sun god?” Krisha asked scornfully, ignoring the cheering around them as Keith took his place at the machine. 

“Yes,” Uzak confirmed as he popped up from literally nowhere. He was beaming. Kolivan wanted to strangle him. “Your boy will do well. We have rarely had such a lovely canvas to work with. Perhaps it was fortuitous that you interrupted after all.”

The urge to wring his neck got stronger. 

“I can only hope you did not keep him so busy with cosmetics that you forgot to teach him the dance,” he returned as evenly as he could. “The set you showed us earlier seemed very complex to learn in such a short amount of time.”

“Oh, he won’t be performing the set you saw earlier,” Uzak corrected. “The dance for the sun god can only be performed at the festival in front of the people. The great advisor will tell him the steps,” he explained, gesturing at the screen, “and the chosen will dance.”

“ _What_?!” Kolivan snarled. “Does _Keith_ know that?”

There was no time to answer, as the drums stopped and new beat began for the dance. It started at a fast, but manageable pace. Keith had no trouble with it, and even looked graceful as he stepped between the squares. 

Kolivan began to relax. Maybe they practiced at a higher level than was necessary for this ceremony. That would make sense. If they were used to a higher difficulty, they were would be less likely to botch such an important event. 

He was wrong. Oh, so wrong. The song quickly accelerated to speeds beyond what Kolivan thought should’ve been possible. Keith spun and jumped through all the squares to hit each one on time. Kolivan had rarely seen anything so physically taxing. He was constantly on the edge of his seat, ready to intervene the tick Keith admitted defeat. 

The only thing that stopped him from stepping in was that the kit seemed to be _enjoying_ himself. His eyes sparkled as he weaved around, and his grace didn’t falter for a tick. He was flushed and breathing hard, but a grin was spreading across his face. 

Beside him, he could tell Antok’s body position gave away his stunned awe. 

“Is he having _fun_ doing that?” he murmured, careful not to get loud enough to interrupt the ritual. 

“I-I think he is,” Kolivan stuttered. It had been a long time since he stuttered. 

Kolivan held his breath through the entire finale, but Keith made it out unscathed. He hit the final pose and held it for a few seconds. He chest heaved, but his chin was up and the smile still present. 

There was silence for a moment, and then the crowd burst into thunderous applause. Keith gave them a little grin as he bowed and stepped off the platform. Kolivan let out a breath of relief. They would go home safe. 

“He does not even seem very physically taxed,” Uzak breathed, shocked. “I have _never_ seen the dance done with such _grace_! And on his first try! Perhaps we may convince him to stay. He is surely blessed by the god.”

“No,” Kolivan said flatly. “Absolutely not.”

Keith pushed his way through the crowed towards them, and Kolivan pulled the kit under his arm as soon as he was close enough. No way was he risking Uzak getting his disgusting claws on their kitten again. 

“ _That_ was very impressive, kit,” he said lowly so only those close to him could hear. “But I would prefer you do not scare me like that again.”

“What?” Keith asked, looking up at him with the most adorable half-teasing, half-genuinely curious look. “You guys don’t have Dance Dance Revolution? I suppose you guys don’t have arcade games.”

Games. The kit thought this was a game. 

Keith was _definitely_ going to be the death of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And later Keith decided he liked his new outfit and was keeping it. Kolivan, who had spent the whole night glaring death at everyone who was watching Keith's ass too obviously and trying to glimpse his chest through the gauzy fabric, actually muttered out loud about Kieth killing him. Keith was curious and mildly insulted. 
> 
> Keith's shirt: http://dancersgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/53.-Nureyev.jpg  
> but in a brighter white. 
> 
> Keith's shoes: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/0e/03/070e03db23279117dd9b75f621a62bb9.jpg   
> except gold. 
> 
> The ddr video I saw that inspired this and also my new head-cannon that Keith can totally dance like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2e1tsnKkiI

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I watched all 5 seasons of this show within like, five days, and now I have a lot of ideas. This will be a bunch of unconnected oneshots of various happenings involving Keith and the Dads of Marmora. Some of these ideas may develop into a series or two, in which case they will be moved. There will probably be lots of people finding out Keith is a kit in the future. I have so many ideas and not so much time to write, lol. 
> 
> I'm also taking prompts! I can't promise I'll write everything people suggest, but feel free to throw ideas my way!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Have a great day everyone <3


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